Posts Tagged ‘dye’

Petticoats are wonderful. But they come in such limited colours, really. Even the Layered Tulle Petticoat’s seven colours and the Mid-Length Petticoat’s three new colours still don’t add up to enough colours. What about brown? Or grey?!

Well, for science, I grabbed three different fiber blends of petticoats to see how well they dye. Here are the petticoats I picked:

Lace Petticoat:

Puffy Chiffon Mini Petticoat:

Mid-Length Petticoat:

As you can see, they cover the bases from 100% nylon (easy enough to dye) to 100% polyester (much trickier to dye).

Now, I’ve dyed things for the Sock Journal before, pretty much always using RIT dye. I like using RIT because you can pick it up at big supermarkets or tiny local craft stores. It’s pretty accessible and not that expensive, when it comes to dye. It’s made to work best on nylon and cotton blends, which means I had to get fancy for the polyester fiber in some of these petticoats. That means I finally had an excuse to use iDye Poly, which is made for nylon and polyester fibers!

Let’s dye!

With all my dye and dyeables at hand, I was ready to add some colour! Or, um, grey. Specifically RIT’s Pearl Grey liquid dye. Because I really wanted a grey petticoat. The 100% nylon Lace Petticoat was my control. I’ve dyed nylon bunches, so I had an idea of how it’d turn out.

The Mid-Length Petticoat is about 4/10ths a pound, but I’m treating it like a half-pound for math easiness.

Remember, folks who dye, you can always drop us a line and ask how much something weighs, so you can calculate your dye. Since we ship things, we always have those numbers at hand!

Due to the sheer fluff of the petticoats involved, I had to use the “big ol’ bucket” method of dyeing, which is putting the hottest water safe for the fabric into a five gallon bucket and adding your dye to that. I also added vinegar, which helps dye sink into and stick on nylon fiber.

As a refresher: thoroughly wet what you’re dyeing, prep your dye, add the thing you’re dyeing, agitate & wait! I gave this petticoat 20 minutes in the dye bath.

This has been a month of nylons, hasn’t it? There’s something really fantastic about them and how they visually smooth out your skin, making your legs look even more fabulous. Of course, that illusion works best if your stockings are a similar tone as your skin. People come in a lot of different shades, so it is rather frustrating that most companies that make the nylons we sell only offer lighter shades of beige. And some even call the colour “nude”! Which makes no sense and is why we use the word “beige” for those colours. We are constantly telling our suppliers that we want more shades and though we’re seeing a teeny bit of forward progress, we just don’t know when more than beige will be a regular option.

For these examples and as a general suggestion, I recommend RIT dye. If you live near a craft store, they’ve got it, in all the colours. Supermarkets and Wal-Marts also often carry RIT dye and, more often than not, offer all the colours. It’s easy to use and not that expensive, plus their site is a great resource, with a Colour Formula Guide to reference once you feel comfortable enough to mix up some magic (and it is magic, there’s a warm brown there that is made of their Sunshine Orange and Navy, somehow, so cool!).

Like I said earlier, people come in a lot of different shades and, if you’re going to dye-to-match then you’ll want to get it just how you want it. I suggest picking up some of the pantyhose that come in an egg and experimenting with those, so mistakes can be made cheaply before you customise stockings you love. For the experiments below I used the Sheer Backseams with Lace Top, though, because hey, we’re fancy.

Those gorgeous shades are all straight-from-the-box, no mixing! I’ll give you the vitals and some tips after the jump.

I’ve shown you the basics of dyeing socks and how easy it is. All you need is a box of dye and some hot water. But what about styles that aren’t cotton blends? What about non RIT dye options? Well just you wait. Nothing dyes quite as wonderfully as nylon.

You can use RIT on nylon easy. Use our search to find a white nylon style, I’ve even queued up the search terms just for you! If you’re using RIT, it’s okay if it’s a fiber blend, since this dye is made to work on cotton and nylon blends. Just follow the directions on the package, or the DIY we shared with you earlier this year. So plain ol’ black and white Ribbed Pinstripe Leggings plus some RIT in Sunshine Orange can become these Halloween-tastic orange and black leggings! The dye won’t make any difference to the black stripes, so I’m free to choose what colours I want.

What’s wonderful about dyeing socks and tights is that when you can’t find the exact colour you want for something, you can make it!

Now, there is a fiber-specific way you can dye nylon, and there’s even an option at your grocery store! Join me after the jump for more nylon transformation!

Last week we showed you the basics for dyeing socks. Once you start experimenting more with dyeing socks and fabric, you can also start looking into the wide world of dyes that are chemically formulated for specific fibers. One of the best places around for dyes and dyeing info is Dharma Trading Company. They’re a favourite with Dreamers who love to dye!

Even if you’re not ready for learning the scientific ins and outs of fancy dyes, you can expand your techniques and start playing around with ways to add colour. I’ve got two simple approaches to show you. The easiest (and my favourite) creates something between marbling and tie-dye. Called “low water immersion” or “scrunch” dyeing, it’s always a beautiful surprise to see how it turns out which, for me, is part of the fun.

All you’ll need for this technique are:

• Dye •
• What you’re dying (the unevenly dyed sock half from last week for me!) •
• A container not too much bigger than what you’re dyeing, remember plastic will stain! •(to see what would work best, scrunch up your sock and try fitting it into various jars and containers)
• A container to mix your dye in •

A little over a year ago on the Sock Journal we introduced our Crafty Bundle, a batch of five mis-matched socks to use as a catalyst for creation! Recently, as we have been rolling the bundles, we realized that there were a bevy of white and off-white socks, more than we could easily add to a bundle without overwhelming it.

Well, the logical thing to do is offer a white and off-white option of the Crafty Bundle, the Dyer’s Batch! You still get five assorted socks, but they’re in easy-to-dye shades (and, since they’re all Dream Stockings and Dreamer Socks, easy to dye fibers too!). What I’m especially excited about is that the Dyer’s Batch gives folks a chance to play with dyeing socks without the worry that they’ll ruin a favourite pair. And, if the dye job turns out, it’s easy to whip them into something fun like arm warmers or any of the cool DIY sock ideas we’re pinning to Pinterest!

If you’ve never dyed socks before, don’t stress, it is super easy! We’ll walk you through the basics, so you have the foundation to play to your heart’s content.

For just straight up dyeing cotton blends like the socks in our Crafty Bundles, something easy to get and use like RIT Dye works pretty well, especially if you’re just learning. The common complaint with RIT is that you can’t get strong, vivid colour from it, so keep that in mind. The RIT Dye site has lots of great tips and techniques that are worth checking out, no matter what dye you’re using.

You’ll need:

• A glass or plastic bowl or bucket that will easily hold what you’re dyeing •(remember! Dye will stain plastic, so don’t use your favourite mixing bowl if it is plastic)
• Dye •
• What you’re dyeing! •
• Something to stir with •

Curious about us?

Sock Dreams was born in Portland Oregon in the Fall of 2000. We at Sock Dreams are a unique & quirky bunch of individuals who value diversity as much as we value comfy socks and great customer service. Our customers come in many sizes, shapes, genders, etc... and so do we.